


Lost: Dark Devas of Destruction (Four)

by Lady_Anonymia



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I Actually Don't Know What Ship This Is, I Just Want To Write, Lost Pets, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 07:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8362318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Anonymia/pseuds/Lady_Anonymia
Summary: Gundam Tanaka's infamous Dark Devas of Destruction have gone missing! Unfortunately, it's up to Souda to find them.





	1. Afternoon

**Author's Note:**

> This took me way too long to write. I apologize in advance for any errors you may find: I mainly wrote this at 1:00 in the morning. :'D

"Kazuichi! Please, I need your help!"

Though he was occupied with trying to repair his dismantled alarm clock, the mechanic's ears perked up immediately at the sound of clicking steps and a melodic voice calling his name. When he turned around, he was face-to-face with Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess and the object of his less-than-secret affections. Although she wasn't out of breath, she was pink in the face, and her normally straight blond hair was wispy and out of place.

"M-Miss Sonia!" he said, his voice rising an octave from shock. The princess tended to avoid one-on-one interactions with Souda, though he wasn't quite sure why. He definitely wasn't ready to talk to her: mechanical parts were everywhere, his beanie was on the floor somewhere, and the top half of his jumpsuit was tied around his waist. He wasn't ready. "Y-You—"

"Oh, I didn't realize that you were working on something...I must have interrupted you." She clasped her hands sadly. "You have my most sincere apologies. I can speak with you at a later time, if you would like."

“N-No! It's f-fine, I—” Souda cleared his throat, and his brow furrowed in concern as he took in the princess’ appearance. "Are you...alright, Miss Sonia? Your face is red..."

She smiled brightly. "I am fine! I decided it would be best to run here, as the journey would have taken much longer if I had walked. There is nothing to worry about!"

Her expression became more solemn, and her tone serious. "However, I have come to you because I am in need of your assistance. Can you help me, Kazuichi?"

Souda had no idea what it was that Sonia needed help with, but if she had come to him, how was he supposed to turn her down?

He nodded and she took a deep breath. “I'm afraid the Devas have disappeared. I came to ask if you would assist me in looking for them.”

“...what?”

“The Four Dark Devas of Destruction! They have disappeared without a trace, and Tanaka-san is utterly distraught. I, too, am worried about them, especially because we know nothing about the other wildlife on the island.”

Of course it had something to do with Tanaka. Souda could practically see the stars in the eyes of his precious blonde princess whenever she looked at that weirdo. He really had no idea what she saw in Tanaka, and anything that involved the occult-obsessed freak Souda did not want to be a part of. But when he looked at Sonia, her eyes were sparkling with resolve.

“I know that you and Tanaka-san are not on the best terms with each other, but I came to you because I trust you, Kazuichi. There are not many I would ask to assist me with this particular endeavor.”

Now, Souda (despite being head over heels in love with this woman) was not an idiot. There were 13 other people on this island, and at least 6 of them would have agreed to a hamster-hunt. On the other hand, she had come to him first. The only reason he knew that was because if she had went to someone like Hajime first, they would have agreed immediately, and he’d still be sitting alone, trying desperately to fix something that was far past fixing. And, maybe if Souda found them, Sonia would finally realize that she was in love with him instead of Hamster-chan! This final thought prompted his answer.

“Y-Yeah, course I’ll help ya look! It’s the least I can do, since ya ran all the way out here ta find me.”

Her eyes lit up, and she bounced on the balls of her feet, smiling gratefully. "Thank you, Kazuichi! I knew I could count on you!"

Souda almost regretted agreeing to help Miss Sonia cheer up Tanaka, but her smile made it all worth it. Still, this meant he was stuck spending the rest of the sunny afternoon looking for four small hamsters on a giant island. The things he did for love.

Sonia kneeled next to him, procuring a piece of paper from seemingly out of nowhere. “Now, I have constructed a map of the island with the help of Mahiru. I have already looked here, in the center, where we are. I will search in the two areas to the right, while you search the two areas to the left,” the princess decreed.  
Souda nodded dumbly, still not quite understanding how he was supposed to find these tiny little hamsters (hamsters that didn't even like him, for that matter!) in this huge space, even if he only had to search half of it.

Sonia stood, and Souda immediately followed suit. She nodded resolutely.

“I will see you in a few hours, then. Hopefully by then we have discovered where the Devas are hiding.”

And with that, she ran off at a brisk jog, towards the far side of the island.

Souda trudged along in the opposite direction.

Well.

This was going to take a while.


	2. Evening

Souda didn't really care about where these hamsters were: as much as he hated to admit it, Hamster-chan had trained them extremely well. They could probably take care of themselves. It wasn't like it was the middle of winter or anything. It was a tropical island! Souda hadn't even seen any other animals on the island—at least, real animals. The only even remotely animal-like things on this island other than Hamster-chan's pets were those weird robots. 

Not only that, but Souda forgot his hat and he couldn't go back for it. What if he came back and Sonia was waiting for him? She'd be so disappointed if he came back without the hamsters, not to mention his chances with her would be shot.

However, after two hours of wandering around the island, alternating between trudging along half-heartedly from fatigue and investigating every corner of the island for a small, furry body, Souda had to concede defeat. There was no way in hell he was ever going to find these fucking hamsters. Although Souda didn't particularly care about Tanaka’s feelings (it would be refreshing to see him express an emotion other than condescension, after all), Sonia would spend all her time trying to cheer him up. Souda simply couldn't bear to think of that reality.

When he finally made it back, legs burning, Sonia was standing with her hands together in front of her. As the sun began to set, she stared into the distance contemplatively. Souda thought she was quite beautiful.

“Uh, Miss Sonia?”

“Kazuichi! You have returned!” Her eyes filled with hope when she heard his voice, but she deflated when she saw Souda empty-handed.

“Yeah...” Souda scratched at his neck awkwardly. “I wasn't able ta find any of ‘em, and I looked everywhere. Sorry, Miss Sonia.”

“It is quite alright, Kazuichi. However, the news you have brought saddens me greatly. I, too, was unable to discover any sign of the Devas' whereabouts." Sonia sighed. "I fear we may have to extend our search to tomorrow."

"T-tomorrow!?" She wanted to do this tomorrow, too? As much as Souda wanted to spend more time with Miss Sonia, he had a feeling that she would just send him away again so he could search by himself in misery.

"Of course, you are not obligated to aid me. If you have other activities, I will have to ascertain if perhaps one of our other classmates is available."

Oh, no. Oh, no. That was not an option. He wasn't going to let someone else take this opportunity to spend more time helping Sonia. She'd would probably go to Hajime first - he'd noticed them talking an awful lot with each other as of late - and there was no way he'd refuse her. He was just too good of a friend. Although Hajime had sworn to Souda that he only thought of Sonia as a friend, Souda had his doubts. She was a princess, for God's sake! Not to mention she was blonde, and one of the kindest people Souda had ever met. There was no way Hajime didn't like her at least a little bit. Souda wasn't going to let him sneak in and take Sonia away from him.

"N-no, of course not!" Sonia's brow furrowed. "I mean, I—I'll help ya. Tomorrow. I-if ya want me to, I mean."

Sonia beamed. "Yes, I would like you to help me, Kazuichi. I appreciate your assistance, and you've been very helpful so far."

"T-thank you, Miss Sonia!"

Sonia looked towards the reddening horizon. "The sun is beginning to set. I am going to the hotel for dinner. Would you like to accompany me, Kazuichi?"

"S-sure!"

Maybe this whole situation wasn't all bad.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, it's short. We all have flaws, dont'cha know.


	3. Night

Souda closed the door to his cottage as quietly as he could holding the pieces of his poor broken clock. It was night now, and he had gone back to look for his beanie afer wishing Sonia a good night, but hadn't been able to find it. It had to be at least 10:00 at night now, and after retracing his steps in the dark for 30 minutes and tripping over a blubbering Monomi, Souda admitted to himself that he'd have more than one thing to look for the next day.

And just as soon as he'd come to terms with that, there it was.

His hat was laying on the desk next to his bed. For a moment, Souda was shocked into paralysis. How the hell had it gotten in here? Souda was sure he had had it when he was working on his alarm clock outside. Why was it in here? His door had been locked...

Souda moved to the desk hesitantly. It seemed to emit a dark energy that grew stronger as he approached it. Souda was probably imagining it, but something within him was telling him not to get near that desk. However much of a coward that Souda was, though, he wasn't going to let some weird feeling get the best of him.  
As he got closer, he realized something was moving inside of the hat. This certainly didn’t make him want to go near it more, but goddamnit he was going to put that hat on if it killed him.

Slowly, Souda creeped towards the desk until he was standing over his unassuming, undulating beanie. With a shaking hand, he grabbed the top of it, and lifted it off the desk quickly. Out tumbled four furry balls of various sizes, clicking their teeth angrily and trying to re-orient themselves.

“Hey, it’s you guys!” Souda exclaimed, dropping the hat back onto two of the hamsters in his excitement. He sat down in the desk chair, hunching to see them eye-to-eye, and held his hand out to the hamster with the white-and-brown fur and chipped ear. “Where have ya been all this time?”

The hamster punctuated Souda’s sentence with a sharp bite to the pinky. Souda cried out and stuck his finger in his mouth to stop the throbbing. The coppery taste of blood flooded his taste buds.

“W-what was that for!?” he whined. “You were the ones takin’ my stuff! Besides, people’re sleepin’, ya gotta be more quiet.”

Souda wouldn’t have said so if someone had asked him, as he would’ve had to admit he was talking to rodents like they were people fully capable of understanding of English. but he could’ve sworn the outraged squeaking got a little quieter.

“Why are ya in my room in the first place? You’re supposed to be smart, right? Ya know ya don’t live here.”

The two hamsters that were under the beanie—the fat orange one and the smaller white-and-orange one—skittered out from under the hat and one dragged it towards him with their mouths while the other pushed. Souda took the hat from them in something of a state of awe, and put it on. It felt like a piece of his body that had been severed was now reattached, or something like that. 

“Y-ya...brought this back for me?” he asked. All of the hamsters nodded. Souda was a little unnerved by how intelligent these hamsters were. 

“Thanks, I-I guess...um, I should prob’ly take ya back ta Tanaka now, so—”

At the mention of their master’s name, all of the hamsters nudged themselves gently into Souda’s hands, and looked up at him expectantly.

“Aw, you’re pretty cute,” Souda cooed at them. “Yeah, I’ll take ya to ‘im. I don’t think he’ll mind me comin’ so late if it’s ta return you guys.” 

The hamsters chittered happily. One of them, a white hamster with a brown back, curled into a ball in his fingers and promptly fell asleep. Souda’s heart melted. It was too much. He’d have to give them back to Tanaka in the next few minutes, otherwise he’d get attached to these little balls of fluff. 

After some skillful animal maneuvering, Souda left his cottage still carrying all the hamsters. The fat orange one and the white-and-orange one were hanging onto his shoulders, while the hamster with the chipped ear laid on the top of his head, and the sleeping white-and-brown hamster was still nestled in his right hand. It was hard to see the signs in front of people’s cottages in the dark, even with the moon out, and as Souda squinted to read them, Souda felt something hit him in the shin.

Souda hopped back, biting his lip to keep him from howling in pain. The hamsters clinging to his body dove into Souda’s hands fearfully. Just barely, Souda could make out the silhouette and glowing red eye of Monokuma.

“Wh-what was _that_ for!?” he cried, still shaking his leg to try and dispel some of the pain. “Whaddya _want_!?”

Monokuma put his hands—paws, Souda supposed—on his rotund waist. “I wanna know why you’re out here, toots! It’s almost 10:30! Shouldn’t you be in bed, dreaming weird perverted dreams about that princess girl you like so much?”

“N-n-no! I-I wouldn’t—”

“Oh, so is that why you’re up, huh? You’re gonna peek at her while she’s asleep, huh? Huh, huh, huh? What a creeper! I didn’t know you had it in you!”

Souda’s face reddened, even though he had nothing to be ashamed of this time. “T-that’s not—”

“Who _dares_ to disturb my exalted slumber?”

A cottage door had been opened, and the warm yellowish glow emanating from inside felt like a spotlight. Monokuma stopped nudging Souda suggestively, said, “See ya later, punk! Don’t get caught!” and disappeared back into the island’s darkness.

“Do I make out the silhouette of the Impertinent One? I should not have doubted the whisperings of the damned, but I thought their wisdom too unlikely to be true. What is your business here?”

Of course it was Tanaka. Couldn’t it have been someone more understanding? Souda guessed it was alright this time, as he already had to return Tanaka’s hamsters to him. 

“Your coy behavior will not keep me from discovering your hidden purposes, fiend. Come into the light, where I can face you head on.”

Somewhat reluctantly, Souda followed Tanaka’s orders. He didn’t look like he normally did. Part of that was because of the late hour: the wasn’t wearing his scarf, or his long black coat. Souda was actually able to see where the bandages wrapped around Tanaka’s left forearm ended, in the short-sleeved shirt he had been wearing to bed. However, those weren’t the things that were throwing Souda off, although they were certainly jarring. There was something else. Tanaka was hunched over, holding his arms close to his chest as if he were cold, although it had to be at least 70 degrees. There were black marks under his eyes that streaked down his cheeks, and his eyes had a slight reddish tint to them.

“What brand of foolish trickery are you expecting to dispense at such a late hour?”

Souda blanked on what he was doing at 10:30 at night, but something else clicked in his mind. He looked at Tanaka, and replied (maybe a little bit insensitively), “Have you been cryin’!?”

Tanaka hugged his arms closer to his body and turned away, which gave Souda his answer well enough. “And of what concern of yours is that?”

“I-I didn’t mean it like that! I just...” The urge to touch his neck was strong in Souda, but he couldn’t do that because he was still holding the hamsters.

Wait a minute...

“Perhaps instead of commenting on my physical appearance, it would be wise of you to address my previous inquiry regarding your reasoning behind your present shroud of darkness.”

Souda stepped closer to Tanaka, hesitantly. Tanaka stepped back, eyes narrowed.

“What are your intentions towards me, fiend? I will not al—”

Souda held out his hands, and opened them so they were flat, palms up. There, in the middle, lay all four of the Devas. It seemed that they had fallen asleep in all the commotion. Tanaka’s eyes widened, and he let out a happy breath. Souda realized this was the first time he had seen the other show an emotion other than haughtiness, smugness, or condescension. 

Tanaka held out his hands, and ever so gently, Souda laid his hands in the breeder’s and slid the hamsters into them. The moment felt strangely intimate, but Souda didn’t feel uncomfortable. There was something sort of...endearing...about it, he supposed was the right word.

Tanaka nuzzled his nose into their bodies. Tears were at the corners of his eyes, and he was grinning broadly. The way that Tanaka looked down at the Devas...it was unlike anything Souda had ever seen, never mind from him. Tanaka looked up, and made eye contact, and Souda was taken off-guard. He looked so happy, and yet, so vulnerable. His face was filled with pure emotion: happiness, and regret, and love, and gratefulness. Souda didn’t know if he’d ever felt that way about anything. 

Tanaka took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were the same hardened, critical eyes that Souda was used to. He walked back into his cottage, closing the door behind him, and Souda took that as his cue to leave. As he started to retreat down the path, however, Tanaka reemerged sans hamsters and called him back.

“What accursed path have you decided to tread, you bedeviled hellion?”

“Uh...” Souda took a minute to translate. “I’m goin’ back to my cottage. Where else would I—”

“Our business here has not concluded, you fiend. In what strange corner of this damned island did you discover the Devas?”

“They were in my room when I—”

The words were already out of Souda’s mouth when he realized how bad that sounded, and that maybe he shouldn’t have said that, even if it was the truth.

“What? Do you mean to insinuate that you were the nefarious abductor who purloined them from their common realm?”

“What? N-no! Why would I— ”

“The universe has revealed your devious scheme to me, Kazuichi Souda! You thieved the Devas from their purviews to dampen the power of my sorcery, and, in addition, so you could spend the entirety of a sun cycle in the shadow of the Dark Lady, aiding in her pursuit of their whereabouts. At the termination of this lunar cycle, when my Lady inquires of me how the Devas returned so mysteriously and I mention you as their savior, her opinion of you will be tainted with rose-colored perjuries. Why, you recreant! You’re more clever than I th—”

“Shut up!” Tanaka looked as if he had been punched in the stomach by the force of the interruption. “Yes, you, shut up. That whole plan ya just talked about: how the hell was I s’posed ta do any of that? You’re the Ultimate Breeder, right? I’m sure if I had tried ta steal your hamsters, they woulda set off some alarm or somethin’, right? Not ta mention you woke up earlier than me, and they were already gone by then. Ya think I wanted ta spend a day looking for four hamsters—”

“Devas.”

“— _Devas_ that could be literally anywhere on the island? The only reason I did it was because Miss Sonia asked me to, and I wanted ta help her. She was sad about it too, ya know. She was worried ‘bout ‘em, and you. I didn’t want ta see her like that, and as much as I hate ta say it, I didn’t want ta see you like that, either.”

“...what?” 

“Ya might be completely insane and super pretentious, but you’re not an idiot, Tanaka. I—I don’t...talk to a lot of people. I pretty much only talk ta Hajime and you on a regular basis, even though we’re always fightin’ about somethin’ stupid. Everybody else mostly avoids me, even Miss Sonia. People...people get tired of me fast, most times.” Souda sighed. “Doesn’t matter what I look like, I’m still the boring, shy nerd I was in middle school.”  
Tanaka’s eyes were wide. Souda was personally shocked himself by how much he had opened up to someone he professed animosity towards (and, therefore, the ammunition he had given Tanaka for their next inevitable squabble,) but it was late and Souda was pretty much done dealing with anything anymore.

“Look, your hamsters returned somethin’ I forgot to my room, and I brought ‘em back. As to where they were before that, I got no clue. Ask them, I don’t care. Jus’...” He rubbed his eyes. “G’night.”

Souda began to walk back to his cottage, but Tanaka’s voice called him back.

“I...apologize,” it said.

Souda didn’t turn around, but he stopped. Waited.

“As the case may be, I should not have adopted such an accusatory demeanor when you have done me an voluntary kindness. I fear that my most base emotions...got the best of me. I’m sorry.”

A pause, then approaching footsteps. A hand on his shoulder.

“I would like to bequeath upon you a token of my gratitude.”

Souda turned, finally. The light only illuminated one side of Tanaka’s face, the side with his grey eye. He took Souda’s hands from his sides resolutely, and pressed something into them. It was hard, and cold, like metal. 

“This object originally channeled the light energies of the celestial being whom I was reared by. I believe it yearns for a different owner now.”

Souda pushed the thing back towards the other boy. “What? Ya can’t jus’ g-give this ta me, I-I-I don’t—” 

Tanaka pushed back. “My bestowment of this gift will free me from any future obligations that I may owe you. My debt to you has been accounted for.”

“I’m not gonna just—”

“Souda, please.” Tanaka pressed the object into Souda’s hand, and it was Souda’s turn to be taken off guard now, because he had never known Tanaka to refer to him by name or to ever use any form of manners with people. The strange façade had been dissolved, and Souda was finally speaking to the real Tanaka Gundam. “Take it.” Tanaka let go of Souda’s hands, and the warmth in his hands turned to a overwhelming coldness. “Thank you, for...giving me back my family.”

Before Souda could refuse more vehemently, Tanaka had turned his back and walked briskly back to his cottage door. Sparing one last look at the mechanic, he went inside. A moment passed, and the lights within were extinguished. Souda turned around and walked back to his own cottage slowly. It felt like he was dreaming. That would never have happened, after all. It must have all been a strange dream...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this a weird chapter? I hope it wasn't...I thought it was cool, but...


	4. A New Day

Souda yawned and stretched in bed, rubbing his hand lazily over his face. Light streamed in through the windows of the cottage. Eyes still half-lidded, he felt around blindly for his glasses. When Souda was by himself, in his cottage, he didn't see the point in putting his contacts in.

Instead, his hand hit something small and cold, knocking it off the nightstand. It hit the floor with a disturbingly heavy thunk and rolled around a little before coming to a stop. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, Souda picked up his glasses, put them on, and looked over the side of the bed, being careful not to fall over off the bed. He wasn’t successful in that particular endeavor.

Souda’s head hit the floor with an even heavier thunk and a curse flew out of his mouth. What was this, the third time this week. He really needed to stop leaning out of the bed when he was still tired, or something like that. Souda would definitely forget that by tomorrow, but that was probably because he kept getting concussions from falling off the bed! The whole routine was quite a vicious cycle indeed.

Souda wrapped his fingers around the gift that Tanaka had bestowed upon him before pulled himself up onto the bed to keep the rest of the blood in his body from rushing to his head. It was hard, cold, and just as real as it had been the night before. Souda had half-expected it to disappear when he reached out for it. There was no reason for him to have this. He’d just returned the pets that already belonged to Tanaka, it wasn’t like he’d done anything that warranted a gift back. On the other hand, there was no way Souda was returning this. He didn’t really know why (he and Tanaka weren’t exactly best friends or anything like that) but it was a gift. If Tanaka still wanted it he shouldn’t have given it away.

He turned the object, which Souda saw finally to be a ring of some sort, around in his fingers. It was black (of course), with a smooth finish: surprisingly modest, Souda thought, for a guy whose various titles included “Ascendant Ruler of Ice” and “Prince of Darkness.”

It seemed like there was something on the inside of the ring. Pushing his glasses further onto his nose, he looked closer at the blemish. Were they words? Souda could definitely make out letters, but he wasn’t familiar with whatever language the inscription was written in. 

_Každá hviezda je sen, a každý kométa, nová láska._

Souda wondered what it meant. He might ask Tanaka later, once he got over the fact that he was actually holding something that Tanaka had given him.   
Why did he care, anyways? If Souda had any sense he would have already thrown this out a window or something. It was probably cursed! (Not that Souda actually believed Tanaka was magic or anything like that. That would be ridiculous...) But something told him to hold onto it. He felt like he deserved something after all of the fuss over finding the Devas. Even if that hadn’t been a factor, there was...something else. Something Souda couldn’t really put into words. He felt attached to this little thing now, and he had made his mind up that he was going to keep it.

He slipped the gift onto his ring finger. No choking, no vomiting black smoke, so that was a good start. It was a really nice ring; it fit like it was made for him. It was a simple enough piece of jewelry: Souda could see himself wearing it around. It’s not like anyone would notice it, and even if they did, it’s not like they would know he had gotten it from Tanaka. That meant he could wear it, right? It wouldn’t be weird ‘cause no one else would know where he had gotten it from. He’d have to make up some story about it where he got it, though, just in case people asked. 

Stretching, Souda made to get out the the bed and get dressed. He had a thought to go and visit Tanaka today, to check on the Devas. Wow, he had gotten attached to them fast! They really were sweethearts, though: adorable and much too smart for their own good. They were totally the type of pets Souda could make robo-suits for.

With fantastical images of hamsters piloting tiny mechas, Souda got out of bed. It was a new day, a day that would hopefully lead to many more on this tropical island. These tiny lost hamsters had helped Souda to find something else: something that still didn’t have a name...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno, I feel like Tanaka's family would know more than one language, so that would feed into his weird personality thing, because he's able to say all these weird occult phrases that no one else understands because they're in another language. I like other languages, okay? Leave me alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated, and (as always) I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
